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Ciara Kenny

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All Canadian working holiday visas gone for 2014

Unsuccessful applicants will have to wait until next year as remaining 3,850 visas snapped up in half an hour

Ciara Kenny

Ciara Kenny

Tue, Apr 1, 2014, 22:07

Were you one of the lucky ones who secured a working holiday visa for Canada this evening? The hotly anticipated second round of 3,850 visas available under the International Experience Canada programme were snapped up in around 30 minutes this evening, meaning anyone who was unsuccessful will have to wait until next year to apply again.

The application system for the remaining permits available for Irish working holiday makers this year opened at 9pm, but by 9.45pm a note had been posted on the Government of Canada’s website to say the quota had been filled.

We were receiving reports again this time of technical glitches with the online system, with some people being told that their identification number was invalid, or their entry had not saved successfully. Let us know in the comments section below if you experienced these problems.

Although the quota of 7,700 working holiday permits available under the IEC programme this year is higher than the 6,350 available in 2013, it was decided to split it into two rounds, after high demand caused the online application system to crash in the past.

Applicants who were unsuccessful will be placed on a waiting list, and notified if a place becomes available due to refusals or withdrawals.

A further 3,000 visas are available under the IEC scheme this year under the new “young professionals” and “international co-op” streams for applicants who have a job offer or internship arranged in advance. Uptake of these visas has been slow so far, with more than 2,000 still available, according to the Government of Canada’s website.

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